ugh, otbs...home depot is doing 0%apr and zero payments for a year upon signing up for a card.
if that doesnt work.,look on your local craigslist.ask around(family,friends)..washing machines are fairly easy to score 2nd hand on the cheap.

Seriously tho, you might have a safety switch on the lid which is not making a connection which could be shutting off your washing machine.

Ausm

Beat me to the punch. I bought a used washing machine at a yard sale not too long ago. Really nice model and not used much but the people were relocating. I got it home and the damn thing did exactly what's happening to the OP's. I was close to going back over to their house to complain about a damaged washer. But it turns out that the little shutoff/safety switch just wasn't being pushed down enough from the weight of the lid. But I noticed that if I just pressed down firmly on it one good time, it was enough to keep the safety switch off. You can even set something a little heavy on top to help.

Make sure it's not the same simple problem before you replace it or pay for a repair.

Pretty sure thats not it as the machine runs with the lid open as well.

So did mine but it won't run every cycle with the lid open. Mine ran fine that way which is why it took me a while to figure it out. But on the drain cycle, my lid has to be closed with the safety switch pressed in.

That may not be your problem but as I said, mine was doing the exact same thing as yours and it was definitely the switch.

If you want to be sure, when the machine is on the soak/drain cycle, just stick a flat-head screwdriver down the hole while the lid is open so you can manually push in the switch. When I did that, my water started draining instantly.

If the water does not drain even when you try to start at the drain cycle, the pump is either burned out or has broken impeller blades. I had that happen last year when a nickel found it's way into the pump and broke off the impeller blades.

Originally posted by: RayH
If the water does not drain even when you try to start at the drain cycle, the pump is either burned out or has broken impeller blades. I had that happen last year when a nickel found it's way into the pump and broke off the impeller blades.

I had a kerchief get between the tub & tank. It clogged up the suction pump.

There are diagnostic sites on line for appliances. Washing machines are a simple repair as long as the gear box, motor & seals are OK. Everthing else is a simple fix. The major timers & controlls can be expensive though.

Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee
I had a kerchief get between the tub & tank. It clogged up the suction pump.

There are diagnostic sites on line for appliances. Washing machines are a simple repair as long as the gear box, motor & seals are OK. Everthing else is a simple fix. The major timers & controlls can be expensive though.

...Galvanized

I"m subletting this apt., so I don't want to do sh|t that could fsck the machine up further.

My stupid roommate must have left some ****** in his pockets that cocked this appliance up.

I changed the pump myself and it wasn't too bad. If you're handy you can remove the access panel and listen for the pump motor. If it works but water's not draining, remove the plastic drain pipe at the back and have it drain into a bucket close to the floor by trying the drain cycle again.

Once you've got most of the water out, unplug the electricity, layout some old towels on the bottom and remove the pump. Pump will usually have a part number on it or it will be in your original manuals. Either lookup the part number or use the model number of the washer at various net appliance repair sites like RepairClinic

I doubt it was something in your roomates pockets. There's usually a screen before the pump to catch things like that.

I bought a used washer and had a similar problem. Turned out the clutch was slipping under load. It'd spin just fine if it was empty or with a very small load, but if I had a normal sized load in there, it wouldn't work. I took it back and spent the $300 on a new Kenmore and am very glad I did.